Lawmakers study why more GIs are killing themselves

WASHINGTON -- Congress is searching for answers to unprecedented suicide rates among soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan -- including consideration of one controversial proposal to use DNA testing to determine whether there is a genetic cause.

Suicide rates are the highest ever recorded, according to a U.S. Army report. The Army just ended a 30-day "stand-down" during which all soldiers were asked to help identify those at risk -- down to the "buddy level."

That will be followed by a servicewide "chain-teaching program" aimed at preventing suicides over the next three months.

The Army also announced it would pay the National Institute of Mental Health $50 million to research the causes of the spike in suicides and "suicidal behavior." The results of that study, however, are not expected for years.

The latest study showed suicides among active-duty Army personnel -- including reserves and the National Guard -- rose from 79 in 2003, the year the Iraq war began, to 128 in 2008.

Of the 446 suicides among soldiers in the last four years, 129 of the troops were deployed at the time they took their own lives and 173 killed themselves after deployment.

The rate of suicides among active-duty members rose from 12.7 per 100,000 in 2005 soldiers to 20.2, the highest since the Army began tracking it in 1980. A supplement to the report is expected in a few days and is expected to show even more of a problem.

The House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee -- which has two New Jersey members -- has conducted almost daily hearings on mental problems affecting soldiers.

The discussions ranged from ending long, multiple deployments to the use of yoga and Reiki to one proposal by Ohio Democrat Marcy Kaptur to ask all returning veterans to submit to DNA testing.

Kaptur, the most senior female member of the House, told one of the hearings last week she believed "genetic profiling" of returning soldiers would help find "markers" to determine whether some candidates for recruitment might be more susceptible to mental problems than others.

"Even if we address the suicide problem, that doesn't address other issues," Kaptur said. "I'm concerned with other mental health issues, including the huge problem of PTSD"-- post-traumatic stress syndrome.

The New Jersey members of the committee oppose the idea of genetic testing.

"I think it's bizarre," said Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-11th Dist.). "We all know there is a problem that must be addressed, but I hardly believe it's appropriate."

Frelinghuysen has pushed for a return to the practice of allowing four years between deployments among reserve and National Guard components.

He cited the 3,200 New Jersey guard troops deployed in Central Asia and asked Lt. Gen. Michael Rochelle, the Army's personnel chief, when multiple deployments would end. Rochelle said it was a matter of "supply and demand."

"We should give these soldiers some idea when they come home about when their next deployment will be," Frelinghuysen said. "They need stability in their lives."

The other New Jersey member, Rep. Steve Rothman (D-9th Dist.), warned Kaptur's proposal would lead to "Brave New World policies" that would stigmatize men and women as possible psychological risks.

"You can't do that," he said.

Rothman said the approach also would shrink the pool of eligible recruits, creating more manpower problems for the military. Rothman said he repeatedly tried to get Rochelle to estimate how many returning soldiers suffered from PTSD, but the general declined.

Estimates vary. One Department of Veterans Affairs study more than a year ago said anywhere from 12 to 25 percent of returning soldiers suffer from PTSD or related mental problems -- but the percentage goes up five years after deployment.

"I don't know how we deal with a problem without knowing its scope," he said.

The hearings already may have yielded changes. After the first one last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced a phasing out of the so-called "stop-loss" program. It required soldiers to remain deployed after their service obligation ended. Some committee members said they were moving toward ending it anyway.

Rothman said he believed the "best way" to end problems among military personnel was "to stop getting them involved in wars we shouldn't be fighting."